A flat, open agricultural plain (below sea-level) with crop fields, market gardens and orchards, gently sloping down to the incised Jordan river in the west. The Jordan river is currently saline. There are small areas of grassland, scrub and bare, eroded badlands, comprising less than 10% of the area. Remnants of natural vegetation are Afrotropical in character. Tamarix woodland and Phragmites beds occur along the banks of the Jordan river. This is the main agricultural area in Jordan (mostly irrigated), and population density is relatively high. Livestock grazing, fishponds, hunting, recreation and tourism are secondary land-uses.